1977 Tom Daniels Burleigh Grimes Baseball Cards

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Another incredible set I learned about by flipping through an old copy of The Trader Speaks (Sept. 1977) was the 1977 Tom Daniels Burleigh Grimes release. Grimes was the last pitcher allowed to throw to throw the spitball!

Tom Daniels partnered with Grimes (who was in his 80s at the time) to print the 16-card set in 1977. You can see a complete checklist on The Trading Card Database, but here’s a photo of each card from a set I found on eBay.

What’s super cool is that each set included one card autographed by Grimes for $3.49. I’ve seen a few complete sets of signed cards sold at various auctions over the past few years, usually going for between $75 and $100, but one of the most unique ones is available on eBay right now (August 2024) for $575, but it contains a few extra signatures for a total of 22. The additional signatures include Edd Roush, Joe McCarthy, Van Lingle Mungo, Leo Durocher, Robin Roberts, and Luke Appling.

There are also 18 PSA/DNA slabbed cards on the market from the set, including these two.

The Bender and Grimes card sold for $36 at Collect Auctions in April 2023.

Tom Daniels also offered autographed uncut sheets for $6.49 in 1977; Heritage sold this one for $31 in April 2007.

I’d love to get my hands on one of these uncut sheets. Let me know if you have one for sale and happy collecting!

1970 Topps Super Baseball Assortment Of 429 Cards

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Continuing what seems to be a “hobby hoarding” series dedicated to REA’s July 2000 auction is this lot of 429 1970 Topps Super baseball cards.

That same REA auction included a find of 768 1952-55 Red Man Tobacco cards and 661 unassembled 1971 Mild Duds boxes.

REA described the Topps Super cards conditions as 95% Nr/Mt and 5% Vg to Vg-Ex/Ex.

The highlights included #3 Aparicio (1), #5 Seaver (1), #8 Bench (8), #11 Brock (7), #12 Clemente (7), #13 McCovey (7), #15 Niekro (18), #18 Mays (15), #19 Stargell (5), #24 Aaron (15), #28 R. Jackson (16), #29 Yastrzemski (17), #33 Gibson (22), #34 Rose (21), #37 F. Robinson (5), #40 B. Williams (8), #41 Staub (8) with the number in parenthesis being the quantity.

1977 Indianapolis Indians Team Issue Baseball Cards

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Today, here’s a little hobby history courtesy of the September 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks. It’s an advertisement for the 1977 Indianapolis Indians baseball card set, confirming they were a team issue.

In the ad, we can see they were issued as a “27 full color card set” that included a checklist card. They were $3.50 per set, postpaid directly to the team at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Since this set doesn’t have much star power, it hasn’t appreciated in 45 years; this one sold for $8 on eBay (shipped) back in June 2024.

The same can be said for graded cards; PSA has only slabbed 11, and this 8.5 of Mario Soto (a 3x MLB All-Star) sold for just $4 in one of PWCC’s weekly auctions in December 2008.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down an uncut sheet. You can see that they were available for $7 in the ad. However, I did find a cool-looking framed example for the 1976 team set for sale on Craigslist for $40. I presume the 1977 one has the same layout.

The Lone PSA 10 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra Card

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Before Memory Lane Inc. sold the lone PSA 10 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra RC for $192k in 2017, Mastro moved the gem mint example in their April 2006 Sports Catalog Auction.

Mastro wrote, “This singular card is the ultimate complement to a high-grade assembly of its series, and it dominates the field in establishing the industry standard.”

Today, of just over 2200 graded samples, it’s still the only Gem Mint example.

As I said, Memory Lane Inc. sold the card for $192k in May 2017. You can see that it had been reholdered into a case I believe it remains in today.

1952 Topps Look ‘n See One-Cent Display Box

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I’ve studied the unopened hobby niche for a while, and this is the first 1952 Topps Look ‘n See One-Cent Display Box I’ve seen. It was offered for sale in an April 2004 auction catalog along with a five-cent wrapper.

The cards from the 1952 Topps Look ‘n See set aren’t particularly scarce, but the unopened material rarely surfaces.

The 6-1/2” x 6-1/2” x 2” EX/MT conditioned display box originally held 120 1-cent wax packs.

1927 Babe Ruth Babe Comes Home Lobby Card

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When REA, then a division of MastroNETInc. offered this 1927 Babe Ruth “Babe Comes Home” lobby card for sale in their July 2000 catalog, it was the only example of this particular type known to exist.

Here’s the lot’s description:

The best Babe Ruth lobby card in the world! Full color lobby card (14″ x 11″) from the 1927 First National Pictures release of “Babe Comes Home” features Ruth in uniform at bat. This is the only known example of this lobby card, and one of only several “Babe Comes Home’ lobby cards known to exist in the entire collecting world. This extraordinary rarity is highly prized in both the baseball and movie collectible field. There is some undetectable professional restoration otherwise in Near Mint to Mint condition.

Another example appears to have popped up since the REA sale; Heritage sold the following one in March 2011 for $2390.

Perhaps it’s changed hands a few more times since, but it’s currently listed on eBay (August 2024) with an asking price of $9,500. The seller wrote that it was one of two known in the item’s description. They also said it was one of a set of eight scene cards.